Omron Corporation

Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Omron Tateisi Electronics Co.

Arata Nakamura

Daisuke Eto

Hiroaki Nakanishi

Hirohito Konishi

Susumu Mizuhara

Takeshi Watanabe

Satoru Shimokawa

Dang Long Bui

Yukinori Kurumado

Yoshikazu Majima

Hayami Hosokawa

Hiroyuki Inoue

Yasushi Matsuoka

Kohei Tomita

Hiroyuki Tsuchida

Norio Onji

Toshiaki Koya

Kazuaki Miyamoto

Nobuharu Ishikawa

Masahiko Shibayama

Masahiro Kurokawa

Koro Kitajima

Kazuhiro Hayashi

Chikashi Niimi

Yuuki Tamura

Fumihiko Misumi

Giichi Konishi

Ikuo Takeda

Hiroyuki Fujinaga

Saburo Yamamoto

Kazushi Tanase

Shinya Tamino

Norimasa Yamanaka

Shinji Mizuhata

Hirokazu Yauchi

Toru Aoki

Tetuya Akagi

Masayuki Kono

Takashi Otsuka

Masayuki Kitanaka

Yukio Yamaguchi

Hiroshi Iguchi

A sheet storage device includes a sheet positioning member that is movable in a first direction, and positions a sheet by abutting on a side end portion of the sheet at a side in the first direction. The sheet positioning member includes a moving body, an abutting portion, a first and a second biasing member, and a bias removing portion. The moving body is configured to move in the first direction. The abutting portion is supported by the moving body to be movable in the first direction and configured to abut on the side end portion when the sheet positioning member positions the sheet. The first biasing member biases the abutting portion toward the side end portion. The second biasing member biases the abutting portion against a biasing force of the first biasing member. The bias removing portion removes a bias applied by the second biasing member.

Sheet storage device, image processing apparatus including sheet storage device, and sheet positioning member

The sheet feeding cassette includes a cassette frame, a first lift plate and a second lift plate. The cassette frame includes a bottom plate and side plates extending in the feeding direction. The bottom plate and the side plates form a sheet placement space. The first lift plate is disposed on the bottom plate, configured to rotate up and down around a first axis extending along a width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction, and configured to lift a leading end portion in the feeding direction of the sheet. The second lift plate is configured to rotate up and down around a second axis extending along the feeding direction and to lift a side end portion along the feeding direction of the sheet.

Sheet feeding cassette, image forming apparatus

A sheet guide of an image forming apparatus includes a first upstream guide member and a first downstream guide member. The first upstream guide member includes an upstream front guide surface and an upstream rear guide surface. The first downstream guide member includes a downstream front guide surface and a downstream rear guide surface. The downstream front guide surface intersects with an imaginary plane formed by extending, toward a downstream side in a conveyance direction of a sheet, the upstream rear guide surface. The upstream front guide surface intersects with an imaginary plane that is formed by extending, toward an upstream side in the conveyance direction, the downstream rear guide surface. When viewed from a direction perpendicular to the upstream rear guide surface, an edge portion of the first upstream guide member on the downstream side is inclined with respect to a width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a developing section, a transfer section, a pre-transfer conveyance passage, and a guide member. The pre-transfer conveyance passage allows conveyance of the sheet from the developing section to the transfer section. The guide member defines a side of the pre-transfer conveyance passage that faces the transfer surface. The guide member includes: a guide body having a guide surface that faces the transfer surface of the sheet; and a tip section having a curved portion joining an end edge of the guide body, and a distal edge that is on a downstream side in the conveyance direction and faces the image carrier. The distal edge is located at such a position as to allow the transfer surface of the sheet to lie at a space therefrom when a leading end of the sheet is in contact with the image carrying surface.

A driving apparatus includes a driving input gear with first gear teeth, a columnar shaft, and a driven gear that engages the driving input gear. The driven gear includes a cylindrical boss portion, a cylindrical rim portion, a web, and second gear teeth. The second gear teeth are formed at an outer peripheral surface of the rim portion. The first gear teeth are first helical teeth twisted in a first direction with respect to a direction that the rotary drive shaft extends. The second gear teeth are second helical teeth twisting in a second direction that is the opposite of the first direction. The rim portion is tapered, radially decreasing toward the end to which the web is linked. The through-hole of boss portion has an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the shaft.

Driving apparatus having improved engagement

A developer container () includes a container body () and a movable wall (). The container body () includes an inner surface (K) defining a cylindrical internal space (H) extending in a longitudinal direction, and a developer discharge port (). The developer discharge port () is formed in a lower part of the inner surface (K). The movable wall () includes an outer surface (K) disposed slidably in contact with the inner surface (K) of the container body (), and a conveying surface (S). The conveying surface (S) defines a storage space (S) for containing developer in cooperation with the inner surface (K). The movable wall () moves in the longitudinal direction from one end side toward the other end side while conveying the developer in the storage space (S) to the developer discharge port ().

Developer container and image forming apparatus including the same

A developer storage container includes a main body portion and a rotary cylindrical body. The main body portion has a cylindrical inner peripheral surface and a pair of main body side end surfaces. The rotary cylindrical body has a side surface having a cylindrical shape, a pair of rotary body end surfaces and a storage space configured to store developer. A slit extending is formed on the side surface of the rotary cylindrical body to allow communication between the internal space and the storage space. The rotary cylindrical body is so arranged in the internal space that a predetermined clearance is defined between the side surface and the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion. A developer discharge port is opened on the main body portion.

Developer storage container having rotary cylinder portion inside a main body and image forming apparatus provided with same

A developer container includes a container body, a lid, a developer discharge port, a shaft, and a movable wall. The container body includes an inner surface defining a cylindrical internal space and a wall disposed at one end of the container body. The container body is formed with the developer discharge port. The lid is attached to the other end of the container body. The shaft includes a first engaging portion. The movable wall includes a conveying surface and a carrier bearing. The conveying surface defines a storage space configured to contain the developer. The carrier bearing includes a second engaging portion. The movable wall is movable along the shaft in the first direction while conveying the developer by engagement of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion. The first engaging portion includes a small pitch part having a relatively small thread pitch.

A proximity sensorcomprising a combination of an arbitrarily selected one of a plurality of types of detection end modules, a plurality of types of output circuit modulesand a plurality of types of outer shell cases. The detection end moduleincludes an integrated arrangement having a detection coil assembly () with the detection characteristic self-completed by a mask conductorfor reducing the conductor detection sensitivity in a specific peripheral area where the outer shell case is assumed to exist, and a detection circuit assembly () with the coil of the detection coil assembly as a resonance circuit element. The characteristics of the proximity sensor are completely adjusted before shipment. As a result, the adjustment of the characteristics which otherwise might be required each time is eliminated even in the case of the combination with an outer shell case of a different material. Thus, the commodity design and production are facilitated for a great variety of commodity specifications.

Proximity sensor

A retroreflective photoelectric sensor has a light-emitting optical system having a light-emitting element and a first polarizer and serving to transmit light from the light-emitting element through the first polarizer, a light-receiving optical system having a second polarizer and a light-receiving element and serving to convert light received through the second polarizer into an electrical signal by the light-receiving element, the first and second polarizers having mutually perpendicular polarizer axes, a single lens for both emitting light from the light-emitting element and receiving light to the light-receiving element therethrough, a beam splitter serving to direct light received from the light-emitting optical system to the single lens and light received from the single lens to the light-receiving optical system, and a phase shifter inserted between the light-emitting optical system and the single lens.

Retroreflective photoelectric sensor

An optical encoder including a graduation plate inscribed with a graduation line along a predetermined direction and an optical reader for optically reading the graduation line on the graduation plate in which a corresponding electric signal is outputted from the optical reader in accordance with movement of the graduation plate and the optical reader relative to each other, the optical reader includes a light projecting optical system for irradiating light from a light projecting source to the graduation plate and a light receiving optical system for focusing light from the graduation plate to a light receiving portion and the light receiving optical system is constituted by a telecentric optical system to thereby enable to be fabricated at low cost by dispensing with high integrating accuracy.

Optical encoder having telecentric optical system

A retroreflective photoelectric sensor may be of a biaxial type or of a coaxial type. A sensor of the biaxial type includes a light-emitting optical system having a light-emitting element, a first polarizer and a light-emitting lens arranged sequentially in this order, a light-receiving optical system having a light-receiving lens, a second polarizer and a light-receiving element arranged sequentially in this order, and a phase shifter inserted between the first polarizer and the light-emitting lens of the light-emitting optical system. The polarizer axes of the first and second polarizers are mutually perpendicular. A phase shifter such as a &#xbd; wave plate may further be placed between the first polarizer and the light-emitting lens of the light-emitting optical system.

A sensor has an emitting device for emitting radiation pulses repeatedly and a receiving device for receiving these pulses. The receiving device includes a converter such as a photoelectric converter to convert the received radiation pulses into electrical pulses. On the basis of a known waveform characteristic or characteristics of true electrical pulse it is judged if a pulse which appears on the output line of the converter is a true electrical pulse caused by receiving the radiation pulse emitted from the emitting device or a false electrical pulse caused by noise. The result of this judgment is outputted from an output device. The emitting device may serve to emit the pulses according to a specified bit pattern and the receiving device may serve to compare the pattern of received pulses with a standard bit pattern and to thereby distinguish between true and false electrical pulses.

Sensor using radiation pulses

A photoelectric sensor transmits pulsed light repetitively, receives light which may include noise and generates a corresponding electrical reception signal. The level of reception signal is compared with a specified threshold value at a timing which is slightly delayed from the timing of light transmission. A sensor output is generated on the basis of the result of this comparison. If periodically changing noise is present and the reception signal has an AC waveform, the level of the reception signal is compared with another threshold value proximal to an AC zero level. The timing of next light transmission is controlled on the basis of the result of the second comparison.

Photoelectric sensor, control method therefor and semiconductor integrated circuit therefor

A photoelectric sensor has an emitting device for emitting radiation pulses repeatedly and a receiving device for receiving these pulses. The receiving device includes a converter such as a photoelectric converter to convert the received radiation pulses into electrical pulses. On the basis of a known waveform characteristic or characteristics of true electrical pulse it is judged if a pulse which appears on the output line of the converter is a true electrical pulse caused by receiving the radiation pulse emitted from the emitting device or a false electrical pulse caused by noise. The result of this judgment is outputted from an output device. The emitting device may serve to emit the pulses according to a specified bit pattern and the receiving device may serve to compare the pattern of received pulses simultaneously with two or more standard bit patterns and to thereby distinguish between true and false electrical pulses.

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Osaka, Japan

Arata Nakamura